Friday, August 8, 2014

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On Friday night, the defending NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles will open up their preseason by visiting the Chicago Bears.

The one position that is clearly up for the taking on the Philadelphia Eagles is at strong safety. Newly-signed Malcolm Jenkins will definitely have the free safety spot, but it will come down to last year's starter Nate Allen and second-year safety Earl Wolff to battle it out during the preseason for a spot beside him.

The one rookie that everyone should watch during the Eagles' early preseason games is linebacker Marcus Smith. The first-rounder may not get his chance to start right away for the Eagles this season, but he can certainly gain some extra playing time if he perform well over the next four of weeks.

Quarterback Jay Cutler is going to be under center for the Bears come opening day, but the backup QB spot is still undecided. Jordan Palmer, Jimmy Clausen and rookie David Fales will all have their chances to grab that job, which is a pretty important one considering that Jay Cutler has had injury issues.

One of the Bears' rookies who has a chance to start if he has a good preseason is safety Brock Vereen. The Bears don't have good safety depth, so the fourth-rounder simply needs to play solidly in August to nail down the free safety spot.

Guy's Pick: Take Chicago

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